Men’s Basketball Downs Southern Vermont, 74-56

Box Score

CHICOPEE, Mass. – Elms College senior point guard Juan Maldonado (Holyoke, Mass.) tied for a game-high 16 points and the Blazers received 32 points off the bench en route to a 74-56 victory over Southern Vermont College in Tuesday evening’s New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) men’s basketball game at Picknelly Arena.

With the win, Elms improves to 14-6 overall, 7-2 in conference play, while Southern Vermont slips to 5-12 on the season, 2-6 in NECC action.

Southern Vermont jumped to an early 6-2 lead before freshman guard Brittain Purcelle (Tarrytown, N.Y.) hit a jumper and Maldonado converted a layup and added a free throw following a foul to put Elms up 7-6. Purcelle and Maldonado added another basket each to give the Blazers an 11-6 edge at the 14:56 mark of the opening period.

Leading 13-12 with 12:24 left in the frame, Elms strung together eight unanswered points, highlighted by a Maldonado three-pointer and a pair of layups, and a bucket underneath from Purcelle, giving the Blazers a nine-point 21-12 lead with 9:12 remaining.

The Mountaineers responded by scoring eight of the next 10 points on the strength of four points from Joe Karnik (Castleton, N.Y.), and two each from Derrick Cenicola (Hamilton, N.Y.) and Lance Spratling (Pittsfield, Mass.), cutting the deficit to three at 23-20 at the 6:39 mark.

A layup by senior forward Javon Mathis (East Hartford, Conn.) sparked a 15-7 run for Elms to close out the half. Mathis netted four points, senior forward Antoine Holder (Hartford, Conn.) added a swish from beyond the arc, and Santiago executed a layup just before the buzzer to give the Blazers a 38-27 advantage at the intermission.

Elms quickly upped its lead to 19 points when Maldonado, Purcelle and sophomore guard Bryant Corcoran (Wolcott, Conn.) and Mathis each delivered a bucket to set the score at 46-27 just 2:52 into the second stanza. Southern Vermont then used a 10-4 run to pull to within 13 (50-37) with 13:16 left in the game, but treys by Maldonado and Corcoran, and the front end of two free throws by junior forward Edgar Martinez (Springfield, Mass.) gave Elms a 20-point lead at 57-37 with 9:45 on the clock.

The Blazers posted their largest lead of the contest when Santiago connected on a free throw at the 5:32 mark to give Elms a 69-43 cushion. Southern Vermont closed out the game by scoring 13 of the final 18 points thanks to nine points from Cenicola and four from Cameron Herrington (Cambridge, N.Y.).

Purcelle and Santiago joined Maldonado in double figures for the Blazers, notching 10 points each, while junior guard Robert Hargrove (Detroit, Mich.) dropped two treys off the bench to finish with six points.

Holder and freshman forward Darius Griffin (Winter Haven, Fla.) added five points off the bench, while senior forward Austin Sylvia (Seekonk, Mass.) swatted two shots in the winning effort.

Corcoran added seven points, collected a team-high seven rebounds and came away with four steals.

Cenicola led the Southern Vermont charge, pouring in 16 points to tie for the game-high in the category. Karnik registered 12 points, while Herrington and Spratling contributed 10 apiece.

Cenicola hauled in a game-best nine boards, while Spratling, Karnik and Ben Naaktegeboren (Cambridge, N.Y.) grabbed eight rebounds each in the losing effort.

Elms returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 6 when it hosts Daniel Webster College in an NECC tilt. Game time is set for 4:00 p.m. at Picknelly Arena.